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Wednesday, March 7, 2018

International soccer bodies, in violation of their own bylaws,
have ignored the blatant mixing of sports and politics in advance of this month’s
Egyptian presidential elections that general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al
Sisi is set to win after ensuring that no credible candidate would challenge
him.

Despite recently warning Saudi Arabia and Iran that “politics
should stay out of football and football should stay out of politics,” world
soccer body FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his Confederation of
African Football (CAF) counterpart, Ahmad Ahmad, have been conspicuously silent
about Mr. Al-Sisi’s marshalling of Egyptian soccer behind his candidacy and use
of a state-owned bank to persuade Egyptian players not to accept lucrative
contracts in Qatar.

Egypt is part of a United Arab Emirates-Saudi-led alliance
that eight months ago imposed a diplomatic and economic boycott on the Gulf state.

The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) insistence, in line
with international sports associations’ ban on the mixing of sports and
politics, that home matches be played on home ground despite the rupture in
relations, has turned soccer into the only sector to have breached the boycott.
Saudi, UAE and Qatari teams are forced to travel awkward routes for Asian
competition matches because of the cutting of airlinks between the protagonists.

Several potential challengers in the Egyptian election,
including senior military figures, have either been arrested, forced to
withdraw their candidacy, or decided not to run because of the risks involved.

Controversial member of parliament and head of storied Cairo club Al Zamalek SC
Mortada
Mansour withdrew his candidacy in January, saying he would explain why at
some later date.

Mr. Mortada’s withdrawal prompted a last-minute race to find
a non-threatening challenger who could muster the endorsement by at least 26
members of parliament and 47,000 voters in time to meet the nomination
deadline.

Mousa
Mostafa Mousa, a largely unknown politician who had earlier declared his
support for Mr. Al-Sisi, registered 15 minutes before the deadline, ensuring
that the government could claim that the election would be competitive.

Mr. Al-Sisi has at the same time stepped up his crackdown on
any dissent and tightened the screws on both domestic and foreign media.

“The Egyptian government has trampled over even the minimum
requirements for free and fair elections for the planned March 26-28, 2018 vote
for president… The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has
relentlessly stifled basic freedoms and arrested potential candidates and
rounded up their supporters.,” said a coalition
of 14 international and regional human rights groups. The groups denounced
the election as “farcical.”

The manipulation of the election results and the crackdown calls
into question FIFA and CAF governance with the Egyptian Football Association
(EFA), several club presidents, and a host of athletes calling a news conference to endorse
Mr. Al-Sisi’s candidacy in violation of the principle of a separation of
sports and politics.

Speakers at the news conference sat in front of a
banner declaring that the “Egyptian Football Association backs and supports
president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to lead the country through continuous
achievements.”

Seemingly convinced that FIFA and CAF would look the other
way, the soccer officials and athletes apparently felt confident that their
violation of the sports’ governance would not lead to a suspension of the EFA that
would have cost Egypt its slot in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Egyptian soccer’s support for Mr. Al-Sisi, moreover, ignored
the fact 210 militant supporters of Mr. Mortada’s Al Zamalek went on hunger
strike last month after a military court extended their detention for a
month.

Mr. Mortada has in the past denounced the supporters as terrorists.
The supporters have been charged with belonging to an illegal organization,
using terrorism to achieve the group’s goals, possessing fireworks and
attacking police.

Concern about the power of militant soccer fans, who played
a key role in the 2011 toppling of President Hosni Mubarak and subsequent
anti-government protests that ended only after the rise of Mr. Al-Sisi and his
brutal crackdown, has largely kept stadiums closed to the public for the last
six years.

The government said last month that it would allow up to 10,000
fans to attend domestic league matches in a soccer-crazy country in which
stadiums were filled to the brim prior to the ban with tens of thousands
creating an electrifying atmosphere.

Mr. Al-Sisi has similarly not shied away from using the judiciary
and the banking system to pressure Qatar because of its support for the Muslim
Brotherhood that he brutally removed from democratically elected office and
since outlawed.

A Egyptian court fined
beIN Sports, the sports franchise of Al Jazeera, the global Qatari
television network, for violating competition rules by broadcasting over a
Qatari rather than an Egyptian satellite.

The EFA, in a similar violation of sports governance, announced
a boycott
of beIN, shortly after Egypt and the Gulf states declared their boycott of
Qatar. CAF warned at the times that clubs
could be penalized, but never followed through on its threat.

State-owned Banque Misr, in an ostensible bid to stop Egyptian
athletes from seeking opportunities abroad, last month launched
a fund to create the facilities and environment in Egypt to prepare them
for international competition. The announcement came days after parliament
called for moves to prevent Egyptians from changing nationality to compete for
countries, among which, first and foremost, Qatar.

“We are aware of Qatar’s attempts to snare Egyptians. The
naturalization of a large number of Egyptian sports talents is part of a
political plot,” Tariq Khouli, secretary of the Foreign Relations Committee
told Al-Monitor,
making clear that sports and politics in Egypt are two sides of the same coin.

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile